Sister Hoods
by nevertalk
Summary: After countless battles, killing Saren, and being plucked from death's jaws on Haestrom, there's only one thing that still scares Tali'Zorah vas Neema.  Can she find someone to fight at her side in this sea of Cerberus?


"It doesn't seem right having Cerberus in charge of this ship," Tali said. "Are you sure working for them is the right thing to do?" She already knew Shepard's position, both from their fleeting reunion on Freedom's Progress and just moments ago on the shuttle ride off of Haestrom. Even still, anxiety clawed at her mind. She felt vile, offering support of any kind to the group, no matter how much she justified it by saying she was there only for Shepard's sake.

"I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they betray us," the commander answered. "If it comes to that, we'll at least be expecting it. But for right now we're still useful to them. Try not to let it worry you too much." Not his most convincing speech, but he had shared her fears since the day he was brought back to life. At least the crew had served him well so far.

Tali nodded and let the hum of the drive core have its turn to speak for a while. "I suppose you're right," she finally relented. He had always steered her right before. Even if this was the first time he was wrong, they would at least be facing it together.

"The crew's not all bad," Shepard offered as consolation. "Dr. Chakwas and Joker are onboard. Garrus is back."

"And you're here," Tali added.

Shepard gave her a smile. "And I'm here. I should let you get back to work, but if you need anything or just want to talk, don't hesitate, okay?"

Tali nodded again. "Thanks for coming by to check on me."

"Of course," Shepard replied. He started walking back to engineering proper but backwards to keep facing Tali as he spoke. "Glad to have you back."

"It's good to be back," Tali responded as she watched him turn forwards and leave. "More than you know," she added so quietly her suit's audio transmitters would not pick it up. She stood in place and stared at the empty walkway with longing sigh. Her protective shield had just left the deck and she was once again alone against the forces of Cerberus. She frowned at the thought. She was being over dramatic. Donnelly and Daniels seemed polite enough so far and they knew what they were doing. They did not seem to harbor any ill will for being placed as her subordinates either. Maybe she was just still down from watching all but one of her team die at the hands of geth. She tried to convince herself that it was only survivor's guilt and that it would pass.

Despite that, looking around at the Normandy only filled her with more apprehension. It was larger than the original; faster, more powerful, technically better in every way. One thing was missing, though: her excitement. When Shepard first took her aboard the SR-1 two years ago she was absolutely thrilled by every inch of the ship. She was filled with wide-eyed wonderment at all the pristine, cutting edge technology. The SR-2 was just a cruel copy with an AI of all things to rule over it. It was Cerberus preying on her fond memories. Shepard was right about some of the old faces returning, but looking down the walkway she only saw barren unfamiliarity.

Tali sighed again and started back to her work station when she heard the slightest of footsteps behind her. She spun around but only the pulsing drive core was there to greet her. Narrowing her eyes in suspicion she asked, "Who's there?"

"I must be getting rusty," said a woman's voice as its owner shimmered in to view. She was short, just under Tali's height, and wore a black hooded outfit that obscured the top of her face in shadow. "People normally don't hear me land."

Tali glared at the woman's audacity. Now she wished she had gone with her instincts and brought her weapons to her work area. "Most people don't have sensitive aural receptors. And I don't appreciate being spied on, _Cerberus_," she hissed.

The human put her hands up defensively. "Whoa, I think we got off on the wrong foot here. I'm not Cerberus."

"Right, you just work for them?" Tali rebuked, crossing her arms.

"No more than you do; or Shepard."

Tali's venomous malice faltered at the mention of the ship's captain. He had insisted his crew, while as unorthodox as ever, was dependable. They had been handpicked for their abilities, not their race or affiliations. Whatever the case, being standoffish would not help her decide anything about this newcomer. "Then who are you? Why were you spying on me?" she demanded.

"Kasumi Goto," the woman answered, her warm tone seemingly negating Tali's inhospitality. She extended her hand for a shake as she continued talking. "And I wasn't spying, I was… okay I was spying, but not for anything evil, I promise."

Tali dubiously eyed Kasumi's outstretched hand. She knew handshakes were a human custom. The literature she read for her pilgrimage suggested the ritual started to show that both participants were unarmed and friendly. Since then she had learned most humans rarely put much stock in the gesture, often using it to lull people in to a false sense of trust before sending them to be molested and murdered in an alleyway. At least there was little chance of that happening onboard the Normandy. She was willing to play along for now. Breaking her gaze from the five fingered hand, she took it with her own. "Tali'Zorah vas Neema," she replied.

Kasumi gave the quarian's hand a firm shake before releasing it. "I thought that's what your name was. The same Tali'Zorah from the Battle of the Citadel?"

"You've heard of me?"

"The media downplayed your involvement, of course, but I do my research. I have to admit I'm a bit of a Commander Shepard fangirl. I guess that's how I got talked in to this mission in the first place." Kasumi smirked slyly. "Don't worry; I won't steal him away from you."

Tali felt heat rise to her cheeks. She quickly deflected the suggestion. "You still haven't explained why you were watching us."

"A bad habit, I admit, but I had to see what all the commotion was about."

Tali cocked her head. "What commotion?"

"When Shep got the info on where you were we rushed straight here. He grabbed up Garrus and Mordin and started plowing through geth to get to you like life eternal was on the other side. You must be quite the sight under that helmet."

Tali felt her heart flutter at the idea of Shepard so adamantly riding to her rescue. Not long ago he had been dead and even that could not stop him from returning to her side. She immediately dismissed the childish ideas. "W…we're friends," she proposed. "We've been through a lot."

"I did get that impression," Kasumi replied through a nonchalant grin.

"You're getting personal," Tali warned.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to get a feel for you as a person."

That was not what Tali expected. "Why?"

"Well for starters, something about you lit a fire under Shepard, and I doubt it's just because you're a kickass engineer. Second, the ground team is _desperately_ in need of a level headed woman for me to talk to."

"You're sneaking around because you want a friend?" Tali asked incredulously.

Kasumi shrugged. "I don't think you understand where I'm coming from here. I don't think Miranda is physically capable of a smile and Jack is… well, have you met her?"

Tali shook her head.

"I wouldn't go downstairs alone, if I were you. Please tell me you're more amenable when I'm not barging in to your personal matters."

"I… try to be…?"

"Good. And sorry about the snooping, it just comes naturally to me in my line of work."

"Well if Cerberus sent Shepard to find me, I'm sure they have all sorts of invasive files on me you can rummage through."

Kasumi grinned. "They do. I did. Mostly just highlights, special skills, batting average, that sort of thing. Doesn't really let me behind that helmet and in to your head."

While still suspicious, Tali's resistance was crumbling. If this woman was genuinely curious about her, it would be rude to refuse. _Just as rude as spying_, she though sardonically. The human considered her a person, at least, and very few outside her own race would admit to such. "Alright," she relented, "you first. Just what is your 'line of work'?"

"Promise not to spread it around?" Kasumi waited for a moment but Tali only stared back at her, waiting. "Thievery."

That took Tali by surprise. "Thievery?"

"Best in the biz."

"You certainly don't lack for confidence."

"Like my grandmother used to say, 'doubts are just chains that bind your potential.' Although my sticky fingers aren't why Cerberus wanted me. I'm here for hacking and entry, stealth ops, all the dark and shady stuff. How about you? You don't seem like the type to drop what you're doing and keep a Cerberus ship in shape. Sorry, _Shepard's_ ship. Cerberus can go to hell, right?"

Tali snorted in amusement. "Right." She paused to think. Why was she here? The obvious answer was because Shepard asked for her, but that was not something she was ready to admit. If he already had a tech, one that could turn invisible no less, what use would he have for her? Maybe she _would_ just be relegated to the ship.

"Are you okay?" Kasumi asked.

Tali quickly looked up, realizing she had not yet answered. "I'm fine."

"You just seem distracted. I can go bother other people if you want."

"No, no," Tali countered instinctively, ruining any chance she had of being left alone. "I'm just still adjusting. This is a big change from my last assignment." While not the whole truth, it was far from a lie. She was still determining whether or not this was better or worse than hazardous missions for the Fleet. If nothing else, every day past this one was a day more than she'd have had without rescue.

Kasumi nodded. "I can imagine. I understand you lost a lot of friends on Haestrom. I'm sorry."

Tali carried a grim expression beneath her mask. "They all knew the risks. Most of them were soldiers but... thank you."

Kasumi started to move her hand to Tali's shoulder, but curled her fingers back in to a fist and dropped it to her side. Even still, she continued with her original thought. "I don't know if I can replace Shepard's ear, and I know we just met, but I'm here if you need to talk it out. I know what it's like."

"Really?" Tali scoffed. "You know what it's like to watch your friends die because you failed them? To watch them suffer so you can live on with the guilt?"

"Yes."

The short, blunt answer left Tali stunned. For a short time her tongue failed her, trapped behind the foot in her mouth. "Oh…" she finally uttered.

"Not on such a large scale, I suppose, but… I guess Shepard didn't tell you about the condition I had for joining?"

Tali shook her head.

"He helped me out with a heist. Not for relics or art or any of my normal fare, but for something very precious to me. It had implications far larger than just myself, of course, but… it belonged to someone very close to me; someone who had been murdered for it." Upon completing her sentence she pulled her lower lip between her teeth to keep it from quivering.

"Kasumi, I…"

"He kept me safe," Kasumi admitted, interrupting Tali's sympathy. She turned her head to see the quarian's three fingered hand on her shoulder and gave a rueful smile at the gesture she didn't give being returned anyway. "I'm sorry," she said. "Here I was trying to make you feel better and all I did was force that on you instead."

Tali let her hand fall from the human's arm. She still did not know what to make of Kasumi, but her personality seemed genuine; even somehow endearing. Ever since her run in with Fist a few years ago Tali had told herself to be less trusting, but saying and doing are two different things. Empathy just came to her naturally. "What are friends for?" she asked.

"Friends, huh?"

"I think I'm willing to trust you for now. You couldn't be Cerberus. They don't have any feelings."

Kasumi smirked. "I dunno, that Jacob seems like a pretty nice guy."

Tali huffed. "I don't like him."

"What? Why not?"

"Taunting me with the ship's AI; as if he doesn't know how quarians feel about them!" Tali grumbled. Her fists balled at the fresh memory.

"Oh come on, I'm sure he didn't mean it."

"Then he's just ignorant instead of rude. That's not much better."

Kasumi put on a loose, exasperated smile. "You'll still have to work with him. I may not know Shep as well as you do, but I imagine you don't want a big 'togetherness' speech from him."

Tali exhaled sharply through her nose and crossed her arms under her chest as her only reply. Kasumi was right, and she knew it, but refused to admit it. Maybe using Jacob as a target for her aggression against all of Cerberus was just easier. Of course, not admitting it only served to stall the conversation. Eventually, the silence became awkward.

"You weren't the only survivor, were you?" Kasumi eventually asked, referring to Haestrom.

"No, there was one other; the leader of the marine detail, Kal'Reegar. He was the one that got me in to the observatory in the first place."

"He didn't want to come with us?"

Tali gave a solitary chuckle. "I wish he could. He's an amazing soldier and we go back a long way. But no, he had to give our report to the Admiralty Board, plus he was wounded from when he doubled back to cover me as I worked."

"Sounds like a real badass."

Tali nodded fondly. "Rumor has it, when he was born, he wasn't pulled from the womb but actually jumped out guns blazing."

Kasumi tilted her head back and let out a short, lyrical bout of laughter. "I have to meet this guy. Think he could take Shepard?"

"No one could take Shepard," Tali answered immediately. "Not even the blackness of space."

"Who are you talking to?" Donnelly asked, suddenly appearing at the end of the walkway.

Tali glanced at him, startled, then turned back to exchange glances with Kasumi. The thief, however, was nowhere to be seen. "Uh, myself," she lied. "It helps me think."

The human engineer nodded awkwardly. "I guess I'll leave you to it then, ma'am." He walked back out of view saying something else Tali could not make out. It was likely some comment on his crazy new alien boss, but she left it alone. As she turned back to the drive core she noticed Kasumi was seated on the guard rail, swinging a foot just above the ground.

"Thanks a lot," Tali muttered. "Now the other engineers think I'm insane."

Kasumi shrugged playfully. "Force of habit. Thanks for covering for me."

"I didn't…" Tali started. She was silenced by a smug look from Kasumi as she hopped down from the railing and walked back to her earlier position across from the quarian. "Fine, but I'll get you back for this."

The self satisfied smile on Kasumi's face turned genuine as she saw Tali start to warm up to her. "I never let a debt go unpaid," she said. Her eyes flicked over Tali's shoulder for a split second. "Be assertive," she instructed. With that, the human woman cloaked herself and disappeared again.

"What do you mean?" Tali asked, but there was no answer. She stood in place staring off in confusion for a moment when footsteps began approaching from engineering.

"You're still back here? I thought I was letting you get back to work," Shepard teased.

"Shepard!" Tali squeaked, "I was just, uh, I was checking on…"

"Relax, I was just kidding. I was planning on giving you a day to get reacquainted first anyway, but you insisted on starting immediately."

Tali gave herself a second to break out of her flustered state. "What brings you back by so soon?" she asked.

"I can't just say 'hi'?"

"So you're giving yourself the day off too then?"

Shepard chuckled lightly. "Touché. Actually, I just got a message I wanted to share with you." He put on a smirk as he watched Tali's head incline in interest. "It's from someone you might know; an Admiral Rael'Zorah?"

"Oh Keelah," Tali muttered, drooping her shoulders.

Shepard made a show of clearing his throat and began dictating the message on his omni-tool in his best narrator voice. "Per Tali'Zorah vas Neema's request included with her data delivery from Haestrom, the Admiralty Board…"

"Shepard, please," Tali groaned, "I can read it myself."

The commander's mouth stretched in to a wide grin at her expense. "If you insist," he replied, turning his wrist to her. "Make sure you read the last line."

Tali started over to him to better see the screen when she felt a pair of hands push her from behind. She stumbled forward, taken completely off guard, and found herself coming to a stop in Shepard's arms. Her eyes went wide and her heart beat quickened as she realized what just happened and where she landed. Cautiously, she looked up, only to see Shepard looking back down at her. Blue met white and her eyes were trapped staring in to his as she tried to work up the courage to look away.

"You alright?" he asked.

"I'm probably just tired," she answered quietly. Another half truth. Being beaten down by Haestrom's sun, hard work, and a geth ambush were exhausting enough, but the sudden emotional rollercoaster had tipped her over the edge.

Shepard smiled at her and nodded. "I know what you mean. It's been a long day. Maybe I should order you to get some sleep and let you look things over in the morning."

Tali regained her footing and released the human. She regretted letting go, but knew it was for the best. Holding him only fostered more foolish ideas. "O-order me?" she asked, recovering her composure.

"I always had to force you to take a break before. You work too hard; it makes me look bad."

"I just want to be useful," Tali explained, bringing her hands together to anchor them. In the back of her mind she feared they would start wandering without direction or start wringing themselves and only embarrass her further.

"You are," Shepard assured her. "I just don't want you over doing things." He waited for her to nod in acceptance before continuing. "Because if you do, your dad will have my hide." He brought his omni-tool back up and pointed to the end of the message. He read aloud, "Should any harm come to her due to negligence on your part, this board will take severe and appropriate action."

Tali buried her mask in her hands. "Keelah, father, I'm not a child."

"I'm kind of surprised he didn't ask me to have you home before midnight."

Shepard's addendum only caused Tali to shake her head, remaining face down in her palms. She at last looked up with a weak expression hidden behind her mask. "Did you just come down here to make fun of me, Shepard?"

The commander's brow creased with compassion, weakening his mischievous smile. "Actually I was just trying to cheer you up a little. Haestrom, Cerberus, I'm surprised you're holding up as well as you are."

Tali's hands fell to her sides. Recent events might have worn out her body, the loss of comrades might have taken its toll on her mind, but what really weighed on her was Shepard's return to life and her return to his service. She could not determine if it was all a happy dream or if the past two years had been the nightmare instead. There was no way they could both be reality. "I'm fine, really," she answered. "I'm just still adjusting, I think." She silently, sarcastically praised her gift of understatement.

"Which is why you need your rest. Ken and Gabby were handling things just fine before you got here. They can go without your unparalleled expertise for one more night."

Tali looked at Shepard's feet a moment before looking back to his face. "Okay, you win," she relented. "Just let me finish up here first?"

Shepard nodded. "Alright, but if I check down here again and you're still working I'll carry you to a pod myself." He patted the quarian on the shoulder and walked back out of engineering, giving a nod to the human engineers as he exited.

"You need to work on your 'assertive'," Kasumi suggested as she reappeared in front of the drive core.

Tali did an abrupt about-face on her heel. "What were you thinking?" she demanded, barely keeping her voice low enough to not alert her subordinates.

"I was helping," Kasumi countered. "It's painful to watch you and Shep flit around the issue like that. You needed a push and I gave you a literal one."

"What issue?"

"As if it isn't obvious. You've fallen for him."

Tali's heart jumped and her face flushed. She was caught. "We're just friends," she continued to insist. "We couldn't ever be more."

"Oh, but you want to be," Kasumi proposed.

Tali started to open her mouth, but could not bring any denial to words. She thought any crush she had for Shepard died with him on the SR-1, at least that's what she had tried to convince herself for months after the fact, but her feelings returned to life along with him, stronger than ever. Even if it was a silly and impractical fantasy, this second chance was making it impossible to ignore. She shallowly nodded her head, wondering why she was admitting this to someone she had just met.

"I thought so," Kasumi continued. "I'm pretty sure he does too."

"Really?" Tali asked with an embarrassing amount of interest.

The thief grinned. "I don't just mean how he's making excuses to come down and visit you. You should have seen how he was before you came onboard. That dry wit was still there, but it was behind this gloomy, professional shield. He'd bro it up with Joker or Gare-bear, but the rest of us would really have to work at getting to the person behind his military shell. I think I'm the only one who's even tried hard enough to get there."

"That doesn't…" Tali stopped and blinked. "Gare-bear?"

"I'm thinking of making that Garrus' nickname. No good?"

"Does he even know what a…"  
"Hold it," Kasumi interrupted with a finger raised. "You're just trying to change the subject. The point I was making is this: Shepard's happier than he's been the whole time I've known him and it's because you're back in his life." She eyed Tali's silent, nervous stance and added, "If that's not more than 'just friends,' I'll eat my hood."

Tali felt a tingle work its way through her body. She had never considered the possibility of being treated differently, at least not in a positive way. The idea exhilarated her, but it also terrified her. She knew any such relationship would be doomed to failure. "It would never work," she argued.

"And just why not?" Kasumi prodded.

Why not? Were all humans so ignorant of quarians and their plight? They could not share a meal, could never be intimate, could never have children, the public outcry would tear them apart. The list went on, but Tali opted to keep the details to herself for fear of making a scene. "He could have any woman he wanted. He deserves to be happy… and I can't do that."

Kasumi raised an eyebrow. "Suit yourself, but I'm pretty sure you already have." With that she strolled silently out of the engine room, cloaking before reaching the end, leaving the other engineers completely oblivious to her presence.

Tali frowned at nothing in particular. What if Shepard really was interested in her? He had no idea what he was getting in to if he was. Was it better not to know? Now she felt more uneasy than ever before. Maybe she could just explain her feelings to him and tell him that she understands how he cannot return them. No, she decided, that only scared her more. Could she just leave it to fester? She could not decide anything now. If Shepard found her still here instead of asleep, things would only get worse.

She explained to the other engineers that she needed some rest and took the elevator to Deck 3 with countless scenarios playing out in her head the whole way. There was a long hall with sleeping pods down either side, some of which had people using them already. She had been assigned pod 18. While the numbers painted on each were foreign, she could at least match the symbols. In fact, she took great pride in picking them out, having learned a small amount of English on the first Normandy. Doing so also gave her something to do besides dread a futile relationship.

The pod opened slowly, its hydraulic arms lifting the lid at their own grueling pace. As Tali began to crawl inside, she noticed a paper note stuck to the interior. More English, she noticed, with a stylized sketch of a rose at the bottom in place of a signature. Her omni-tool quickly translated it.

_I'll help you if you're serious. Come to my room any time._

_P.S. Cute hood._

Tali stared at the slip of paper between her thumb and forefinger skeptically. She glanced from it to the sleeper pod weighing her options. After thinking heavily for a few moments, she let the paper drop in to her palm where she crushed it. Determination built up within her and she snorted with a nod to herself. If she did not take care of her silly dreams now, they would distract her the entire mission. One way or another, she needed closure. She hit the button to close the pod and it did so just as slowly as it had opened as she turned and started towards portside observation.

As she turned the corner from the mess hall and the door came in to view, she felt that earlier resolve waver. She brought up memories of her countless battles, the hunt for Saren, times she had lead expeditions for the Migrant Fleet; anything to remind herself of how tough she was. She was not a scared little girl. As she lifted her hand to knock, it was all she could do to go through with rapping her knuckles against the metal.

"Who is it?" Kasumi's voice asked sweetly from the other side. She knew full well who it was.

"Kasumi, can I come inside?" Tali asked.

"No."

Tali's hand fell limply to her side. "Oh… I'll just…"

The door opened abruptly with an exasperated Kasumi on the other side. "Tali, get in here."

Bewildered, the quarian followed her instructions and crossed the threshold of the observation room with the door closing behind her.

"Tali, what are you doing in here?" Kasumi asked.

"B-but you just said…"

"Why are you not up in Shepard's quarters giving him the night of his life?"

Tali let out a deep sigh. "Because I can't. I don't know what to do. I need your help."

Kasumi took her turn to look perplexed. "You don't know what to do? Uh, well, I'm not sure how much I can help you there. I mean, I did kiss a girl in college once, but we didn't… I'm not…"

"What? No, I mean… what do I say?"

"Oh," Kasumi chuckled nervously, "right, of course you did. Come on." She gestured to the couch and led Tali over to it.

"Wait, you went to school to become a thief?" Tali asked, taking her seat. She found the idea of humans teaching their people to steal difficult to comprehend and rather insulting.

Kasumi giggled softly. "No. I was actually studying galactic history without a declared major. I also vowed to stop drinking so much since then. Anyway, the thievery was just a childhood interest that eventually took over."

"What do you mean?"

Leaning her head back, Kasumi recalled the tale. "When I was a young girl, about nine I think, I got caught shoplifting. Nothing serious, just a candy bar, but I got a stern talking to from the store owner and my grandmother was none too happy about it."

"So what happened?"

"The next day I went back to apologize. The owner was very forgiving and went back about his business. That's when I took what I had learned, stole the same candy bar, and got out with no one the wiser. I've been hooked on the thrill ever since."

Tali snickered in spite of herself. "You're awful."

"I know," Kasumi grinned, "but you're not here for my life story. You're here to court the great Commander Shepard."

Any signs of laughter fell from Tali's face. Staring off in to space for a moment, she nodded silently. Still thinking, she stood from the couch and wandered aimlessly a few steps. Kasumi's eyes followed the quarian but she did not rise to meet her. "Do you really think it could work?" Tali finally asked.

"Obviously you do or you wouldn't be here," Kasumi answered.

"I was too caught up in fantasy," Tali said, still not turning to face the human. "I should just…"

"Here we go," Kasumi groaned, flinging her legs up on the couch where Tali had been seated. She placed her arms behind her head, propping it up to look at the other woman. "You want this, Tali. You can't have it if you're running away from it."

Tali spun abruptly. "It's not about me!" she retaliated, leaning forward aggressively on the arm of the couch, taking Kasumi by surprise. Quickly becoming aware of her outburst, Tali pushed off the arm back to a standing position. She sighed and her shoulders drooped. "Even if he is… interested in me, I don't want my own selfishness to hurt the mission; to hurt him."

"It doesn't sound very selfish to me," Kasumi stated, "but bottling this up won't help the mission either; not to mention _you_."

Tali went back to her wandering; this time towards the back of Kasumi's room to her desk. She noticed a flower, how it seemed so out of place on the metal desk, away from the others in the vase beside the bed, and recognized it as the same flower that had been drawn on the note. The note itself, she noticed, was no longer in her hand. Hopefully she had absentmindedly pocketed it instead of dropping it somewhere.

Kasumi continued watching her new friend, partly out of concern but also to make sure she did not disturb any of her treasures. "The red rose," she said, noticing where Tali's interest had lit. "It used to be my calling card. In place of whatever I stole, I would leave a single red rose as a signature. 'Thanks for the loot. Love, Kasumi Goto.'" She hummed in contemplation. "I gave that up shortly after meeting Keiji. I guess he just made me realize how silly it was. He had a way of doing that. Always the voice of reason."

Tali ran her eyes over the rose but thought better of picking it up. "Keiji was who you mentioned earlier? The… 'close friend'?"

"I loved him," Kasumi admitted. "I still do," she whispered wistfully under her breath. She turned her attention back to Tali and spoke up. "You can't predict the future, Tali, but you can at least control the present. Even if I knew Keiji was going to be taken from me, knew the pain I would suffer, I still wouldn't have given up all the good times we had." The thief offered Tali a half smile as she turned her head to look at her. "It's not too late to have yours."

Tali returned the smile, despite it being hidden behind her mask. "How did you two…" she racked her brain for the human turn of phrase, "hook up?"

"You see that painting to your left there?"

Tali looked back to see the cityscape. It was masterfully painted, even if she thought the subject matter to be rather dull and drab. She could not begin to recognize the city that served as the subject but the painting itself was exceedingly well cared for.

"I was hired to steal that," Kasumi continued. "So was he. It turns out he beat me to the punch and I saw him making off with it. So I did what any hardened, professional thief would do. I chased him down and tackled him." She smiled contentedly at the memory. "We never did hand it in to our employers."

"Hmm," Tali mused, "I'm not sure I could pounce on Shepard in the middle of a mission."

"Maybe not in the middle of a mission…" Kasumi teased. "But it does go to show what being proactive can get you."

Tali began drifting back towards the couch. "Maybe, but I'm still a quarian. He'd have to make so many sacrifices; give up any chance at a normal relationship. We'd still be apart, even when together. I… I couldn't even kiss him, hold his hand without gloves..." She looked down at her hand, seeing nothing but the suit around it.

Kasumi patted the couch cushion next to her. "That's your brain talking," she told the quarian as she took the invitation to sit back down. "Love is stupid, Tali. It's not rational or straightforward but sometimes you should just listen to your heart instead of your head."

Tali stared at Kasumi in a hunched position, her elbows resting on her thighs. After a moment of thought she leaned back. "You're telling me to just blunder headlong in to this and ignore the consequences?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. You might just be pleasantly surprised."

Tali exhaled through her nose. "I just want everything to be perfect, that's all."

"Everything's not going to be perfect. I'm sorry, but it's not. Even in those 'normal' relationships, things happen. You'll just have different problems."

Tali's stomach knotted. She already had every possible problem outlined in her mind from months, years even, of fanaticizing. She sighed at the stupid question she was about to ask. "Okay. So what do I do?"

Kasumi's mouth split in to a wide grin. Her eyes twinkled from behind the shadow of her hood. "If you want to use your head so much, use it to make this work. Can you take something to prevent disease…or whatever?"

"It's more like an allergic reaction," Tali muttered. She was just starting to feel hopeful and this reminder was slapping her back down.

"I was allergic to nuts when I was young," Kasumi commented to an extremely unimpressed quarian. "But you should talk to Miracle Mordin about it. There's bound to be some anti-biotics or injections or something."

Tali cocked her head. "Miracle… oh, the salarian?"

Kasumi nodded. "He's kinda weird, but I like him. If he could whip up something to counteract the Collector's seeker swarms, I'm sure he can give you a few hours of alone time with Shepard."

Tali shrank down at Kasumi's outspoken nature. "I think it's a bit early for anything like that…"

"True. First we need to make him realize what you mean to him."

"How can I do that, though? I don't have anything to offer him."

Kasumi's eyes narrowed slightly, as though she was studying the smooth contour of Tali's visor. "Do you care for him?" she asked.

"Keelah, yes," Tali exhaled without shame. "He's kind, strong, loyal, courageous, handsome…"

"I get the picture," Kasumi chuckled. "But don't you have those same things to offer?"

"Me?"

"It's obvious how much you hate Cerberus, but you're here for him anyway. Isn't that courage and loyalty? And, if you don't mind my saying so, you have quite the figure. He's likely already noticed that."

Tali blushed hotly. Compliments were few and in between for her. The Admiralty Board had praised her involvement in the Battle of the Citadel and the captain of the Neema had appreciated her engineering expertise, but rarely did she ever have kind words spoken about her on a personal level. In fact, not since… "Okay," she decided. "I'm ready."

"That's what I want to hear!" Kasumi proclaimed, nudging the quarian with her arm.

"Do you have a plan?"

"Just a general outline right now. Get him alone, wait for the right moment, then strike."

"Strike?"

"Press him in to an answer. If you don't think you can just come right out and confess, steer the conversation in the right direction. Who knows? He might even be bright enough to pick up on hints." She bit her lip at what she had just said. "He's still a man, though, so probably not."

The right moment? Would she have to create it or would it just happen? Tali racked her brain for times that might be the "right one." Missions were right out. They would have too much work to do and there would always be at least one other member of the team with them. Maybe she could pull him back to the drive core again or find a reason to catch him in the mess hall. Then she'd have to find the right things to say, something that felt natural and not desperate or creepy.

"You still with me?" Kasumi asked, shattering Tali's imagination.

"Yes. I'm just thinking."

"Planning?"

Tali nodded.

Kasumi offered her another comforting smile. "Don't worry. We'll think of something."

"I'm not complaining," Tali replied, "but why are you so eager to help me?"

Kasumi looked to the ceiling as if an answer were up there during the time it took to cross her legs. "I don't really know. I guess it just seems like the thing to do. But you seem so unsure of it. Is it really that rare for a quarian to have a relationship with another race?"

"It's not unheard of," Tali confessed, "but usually the suit stays on. Always."

Kasumi nodded morosely, clearly understanding Tali's implications.

"There aren't many of us away from the Flotilla either," the quarian continued. "We're always struggling for survival, cut off from the rest of the galaxy. Well, besides pilgrimage or salvaging supplies."

"What exactly _is_ a pilgrimage?" Kasumi asked.

The question sounded as if she had heard of it before. Besides Shepard, there had now been a total of two people who cared enough to ask Tali about quarian culture. It flattered her almost as much as the earlier compliments. "It's my people's rite of passage in to adulthood. No matter how old you are, you aren't considered an adult until you prove yourself worthy of becoming part of a ship's crew. We venture off in to the galaxy and do not return until we've found something of value for the Fleet. We then present it to our prospective captain and, hopefully, he accepts and lets us join his crew."

Kasumi nodded thoughtfully. "I ask because I worked with a quarian who mentioned he was on his pilgrimage. He never went in to detail, though, just met him in passing."

"What do you mean 'worked'?" Tali asked, already dreading the explanation.

"He was a software pirate and hacker. He could crack anything you put in front of him within minutes. I swapped an altered version of a security program he hacked with the real one for a job. It almost made it too easy." Kasumi chuckled to herself. "I bet they're still using it too."

Tali caught her lowering head in her hand. "We aren't all thieves, Kasumi. If a pilgrimage gift is considered stolen, it's…"

"I didn't say you were," Kasumi said tactfully, cutting off Tali's defense with her own. "And it's a good thing, too, because if you all hacked like that I'd be out of a job."

"No one said we couldn't," Tali commented, glad to see she wasn't dealing with more misconceptions.

"Hmm, then maybe you could cause an elevator malfunction with just you and Shepard inside. Give yourself some time to talk, fix it up for him, be his hero, that sort of thing?" Kasumi watched Tali's eyes behind her visor for a response but after none immediately came explained, "Brainstorming, Tali, come on. You have any idea what kind of music he likes?"

The door to the observation room suddenly slid open, causing both women to stop their conversation and turn to look at the intruder. Shepard stood in the doorway with his arms crossed and an eyebrow cocked.

"Well, at least you aren't working," he remarked.

"Shepard," Tali gasped, "I was just about to…"

"Don't worry about it, as long as you're taking it easy I'm not about to implement a curfew. Just didn't want you burning yourself out before I even get to take you on a few missions."

"So, Shep, are you making an excuse to come see her or me?" Kasumi posed.

"Actually," Shepard answered, "I was on my way to talk to Garrus and just noticed Tali wasn't in her pod. EDI said she was in here."

"So her then," the thief grinned. She nudged Tali with her elbow again.

Shepard exhaled in lightheartedly. "I'm glad to see you two are getting along. It seems like everyone else on this ship is a step away from bloodshed. Grunt isn't happy about Mordin's genophage work, Jack and Miranda are constantly at each other's throats over the stupidest things, and Jacob's already getting pissy about some drell we're supposed to pick up just because he's an assassin." He shook his head at the floor.

"Don't worry, Shepard, I'm sure you'll find some way to offend us," Tali quipped.

"Funny you should say that," Shepard replied dryly, "because our next stop is to recruit a geth and reanimate Hock's zombie bones."

"Oh, Shepard," Kasumi recited in absolute monotone, "you sure know how to talk to the ladies."

The commander shrugged. "It's a gift." He stuck his thumb over his shoulder. "Anyway, I'll be getting back to my rounds. You two stay out of trouble in here."

"Actually, I really should get some sleep," Tali said as she stood up. Sitting on the couch only reminded her how tired she was. It felt like days since Haestrom when it had actually only been a few hours. She started to the door where Shepard was politely standing to one side to let her out first. Turning over her shoulder just before exiting, she finished with, "And thank you for the help, Kasumi."

"You bet," the thief replied happily.

Shepard watched Tali walk down the hall and turn the corner. He looked back to see Kasumi's best innocent expression. "What help?" he asked.

"It's a surprise."

He eyed the woman suspiciously. "Am I going to like it?"

"You're going to _love_ it."


End file.
